Renowned southern authors and internationally sought-after teachers and speakers Terry Kay and Rosemary Daniell join forces as the keynote speakers at the Northwest Georgia Valley Writers Conference Saturday March 20 at the Harris Arts Center in Calhoun.

A 2006 inductee into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame and recipient of numerous awards, Terry Kay has been a sports writer and film/theater reviewer for the Atlanta Journal –Constitution, a public relations executive and a corporate officer. Terry is probably best known for the 10 novels he has penned, including reader favorites To Dance with the White Dog and Taking Lottie Home. His most recent novel, The Book of Marie, tells the story of a college professor returning to the small southern town he left behind fifty years earlier, when civil rights were new and where secrets still run deep.

For more than 25 years, Rosemary Daniell has led Zona Rosa creative writing workshops in Savannah, Atlanta, and across the globe. She has been featured in People and Southern Living magazines and appeared on television shows that include Larry King, Donahue and Merv Griffin. Her revolutionary memoir, Fatal Flowers: On Sin, Sex and Suicide in the Deep South, won the 1999 Palimpsests Prize for most requested out-of-print book. Along with her second memoir, Sleeping With Soldiers, Rosemary was a forerunner of the current memoir trend. She has written four other books of poetry and prose and has been reviewed in such publication as Time Magazine, Rolling Stone and The New York Times. Her book, The Woman who Spilled Words All Over Herself: Writing and Living the Zona Rosa Way, has become the writer’s bible for many.

“The Northwest Georgia Valley Writers Conference offers something for everyone,” an arts center representative says, “from new writers to experienced writers to those who are readers only.” There are three ways to attend the conference. Attendees can participate in the full day’s events for $30, attend the final panel discussion and the author meet ‘n’ greet and book signings for $5, or only attend the author meet ‘n’ greet and book signings at no charge.

Events include a 90-minute workshops with Terry Kay on “The DNA of Writing: Reducing the Must-Know Requirements to Two Issues,” a 90-minute workshops with Rosemary Daniell on “What Geniuses Know,” a panel discussion on “Publishing Your Book: Large Press, Small Press, Self Publishing” and a panel discussion on “The Writers Life.” Attendees also choose two of four other workshops offered, which are “Pepping Up Your Poems” with Anne Webster, “Everyone Has a Story …Mining for Gold” with Geri Taran, “Write in Style and You Write to Sell” with Bobbie Christmas, the Book Doctor, and “Writer’s Block: Is it a Myth?” with Fran Stewart.

Author Meet ‘n’ Greet and Book Signings are 8:00 – 8:45 a.m. and 5:45 – 6:45 p.m. and feature conference workshop teacher/authors with their books and additional southern authors such as Jimmy Blackmon with his March release, Southern Roots, Susan Kirkland, Higher Honor, Tony Burton, The Writer’s Journey Journal and additional fiction books, Liz Bowles, Mamie and the Root Woman, Donny Seagraves, Gone From These Woods, Sam Isaac Edwards, From Outhouse, to Whitehouse, to Treehouse, and more authors TBA. (Terry Kay will only be available at the first book signing.)

Out-of-town attendees are encouraged to spend the night and explore the area. Calhoun is a nature enthusiast’s paradise surrounded by lakes, rivers, and 26 mountain summits and peaks. For history buffs, Gordon County is home to an abundance of Cherokee and Civil War history. Discount shopper paradise can be found at Calhoun’s Prime Outlets Mall.

The Harris Arts Center is located at 212 South Wall Street in Downtown Calhoun. Calhoun is 75 miles north of Atlanta and 50 miles south of Chattanooga, just off I-75. For more information on the Northwest Georgia Writers conference or to register by phone, call 706-629-2599 or visit www.harrisartscenter.com

The Northwest Georgia Valley Writers conference is sponsored by Wolfmont Press, Barnes & Noble Booksellers Rome, Shaw Industries, the Bill & Debbie Richeson Memorial Fund, JD’s Place (offering 10% off lunch to attendees,) Bridges Discount HomeStore, and the Jameson Inn, (mention you are with the Harris Arts Center for a room discount.)